Goal Achievement and Your Brain: Executive Function
Jul 31, 2023
auto_awesome
Nicole Santamaria, an occupational therapist specializing in executive functions, shares her insights on enhancing productivity through mental processes essential for achieving goals. She discusses how the Full Focus Planner plays a transformational role in supporting these skills in children and adults. Listeners will learn strategies for engaging students, the significance of accountability, and the impact of structured learning processes. Nicole also tackles misconceptions around executive functioning, emphasizing the importance of holistic understanding and support from parents and educators.
Executive functioning skills are crucial for productivity and begin developing in early childhood, continuing into the mid-20s.
The Full Focus Planner enhances executive functioning by promoting accountability and integrating wellness practices into daily routines.
Deep dives
Introducing the Full Focus Wellness Planner
A new tool has been launched to enhance personal wellness and self-care, designed as an upgrade to the existing Full Focus Planner. This planner includes features to track important aspects of health, such as sleep, nutrition, movement, hydration, and even gratitude. Users can still maintain their usual planning routines with features like weekly and daily task tracking while integrating wellness into their planning process. The planner also includes helpful tools like a self-care planner and vision sketch, aimed at promoting overall well-being.
Understanding Executive Functioning Skills
Executive functioning skills relate to cognitive processes that help an individual complete tasks and manage their thought processes. Development of these skills starts as early as six months and continues through the mid-20s. It's important to recognize that not everyone has fully developed these skills by the age of 25, especially for those with conditions like ADD, which can delay development further. Addressing misconceptions about these skills can help individuals understand the need to work on areas like organization and attention for improved life management.
Accountability and Buy-In for Skill Development
Creating accountability is essential in helping children and young adults develop their executive functioning skills, particularly for those with ADD or similar challenges. Successful implementation of a system like the Full Focus Planner can foster this accountability, whether through parental involvement or internal motivation. Gaining buy-in from older students can be tricky, as their trust must be established before they can be encouraged to utilize planning tools effectively. Techniques that validate the struggles these individuals face can help facilitate a pathway toward developing better organizational habits.
The Importance of Embedding Skills in Daily Life
Embedding executive functioning skills into daily routines rather than viewing them as separate lessons can enhance learning for students. Practical application of these skills in various subjects and contexts fosters continual reinforcement and growth, rather than isolated instruction. Engaging students through relatable practices, such as keeping track of assignments using planners, helps solidify these concepts in their daily lives. Additionally, consistent and supportive scaffolding can bridge gaps in understanding and strengthen skills over time, ultimately leading to improved outcomes.
In order for us to be productive throughout the day and achieve the goals that we've set for ourselves, we rely on a set of mental processes called executive functioning skills. Whether or not you're familiar with the term, you're using these skills every day.
In today's episode, Full Focus Certified Pro Nicole Santamaria drops by the show again and talks with Nick about executive functioning and how she uses elements of the Full Focus System while working with children and teachers. Along the way, they'll touch on everything to the fear of achievement, the "planner person" label, and typing class.
In this episode, listeners will learn about:
The concept of executive functioning skills
The transformational role of the Full Focus Planner in enhancing executive functioning skills
Strategies for gaining buy-in from children
The vital role parents, teachers, and specialists can play in nurturing executive functioning skills in everyday life and classroom settings